Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi unite against US over diplomat strip row

New Delhi, Dec 17: When tension between Indian and US escalated over Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's arrest and strip-search, the country had a rare experienced as Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi seem to have united protesting against the actions taken against the diplomat.

Hours after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde decision of cancelling meeting with US delegates team, BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi too took similar decision.

Refused to meet the visiting USA delegation in solidarity with our nation: Modi

Rahul, Shinde and Modi's latest move of snubbing the US delegates is seen as a mark of protest against the treatment meted out to India's deputy consul general in New York -- Devyani.

was reportedly subjected to a humiliating strip search and was kept in a cell with drug addicts after her arrest for alleged visa fraud last week. She has refused to comment on this.

Earlier on Monday, National Security Adviser (NSA) chief Shiv Shankar Menon and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar had cancelled meetings in Delhi with the delegation. Sources said senior officials in the foreign ministry had urged minister Salman Khurshid to cancel his meeting with the US team too, but the minister chose to meet them and convey India's displeasure.

39-year-old Devyani was arrested on Thursday on the street while she was dropping her daughter to school and was handcuffed in public. She was later released on a $250,000 bail. She has been accused of lying on the visa application for an Indian national who worked at her home from November to June for less than four dollars an hour.